Derrick Walker recorded 22 points and eight rebounds and Sam Griesel added 18 and 12, respectively, to fuel visiting Nebraska to a 63-53 victory over No. 7 Creighton on Sunday in Omaha, Neb.
Walker made 11 of 16 shots from the floor to send the Cornhuskers (6-3) to their third straight win and first in Omaha since the 2003-04 season.
Griesel, who was born in Lincoln, added seven assists and Juwan Gary collected 12 points and nine rebounds for Nebraska.
Creighton’s Francisco Farabello sank five 3-pointers to highlight his 16-point performance off the bench.
Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman each had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bluejays (6-3), who have dropped three in a row.
Creighton struggled with its 3-point shooting for the second straight game. The Bluejays made 10 of 40 from beyond the arc on Sunday, three days after going 4-for-27 in their 72-67 loss to Texas.
Walker took over with just over five minutes to play in the second half. He had three straight layups and answered Gary’s layup with another bucket to stake Nebraska to a 57-45 lead with 2:22 to play.
Trey Alexander and Farabello each drained a 3-pointer during a quick 6-2 surge, however Gary added an emphatic dunk and Griesel sealed the win at the free-throw line.
Ryan Nembhard’s layup trimmed Nebraska’s lead to 31-30 before the Cornhuskers responded with an 11-3 run. Griesel capped that spurt with two layups and a jumper.
The Bluejays battled back as Kalkbrenner made a dunk and Farabello converted a four-point play, however Griesel completed a three-point play to halt the momentum.
Farabello’s second 3-pointer of the first half forged a tie at 23-23 before Griesel’s off-balance jumper with 15 seconds left gave Nebraska the lead headed into intermission.
The Cornhuskers’ defense made its presence felt in the first half. Creighton made just 25.8 percent of its shots from the floor (8 of 31), 29.4 percent from 3-point range (5 of 17) and committed eight turnovers.
–Field Level Media
